Phoenix bus drivers back on the road after strike

Bus drivers picket in front of a Phoenix bus depot, as they join more than 600 Phoenix area transit bus drivers who went on strike March 10 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Buses in Phoenix are back on a full schedule for the first time since drivers walked out in a labor dispute last week.

More than 600 drivers with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1433 overwhelmingly approved a new contract with Veolia Transportation Services on Thursday. They were back behind the wheel Friday morning.

Another 310 striking drivers in nearby Tempe will vote on their new contract Friday and may be back to work Saturday.

The strike crippled bus service in metropolitan Phoenix.

Fifty of the 101 bus routes on the combined Valley Metro regional bus service were affected by the strike. The Tempe drivers still on strike operate 19 of those routes, and they’re running at just 42 percent of normal service.